Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Paperback – October 9, 2007

I absolutely loved this book. The presentation is exceptionally well balanced. The author does not wallow in pity for the Indians but neither does he seem to harbor praise for the American emigrants or American military. Forty-six chapters and the author does not take sides, which is difficult to achieve in such a complicated historical saga.The book nicely covers the most significant dramas of the Mexican-American War (at least those dramas involving Kit Carson), the war between the Navajo and Americans, the war between the Comanche and the Americans, and the wars/feuds between the Mexicans and the Navajos. Also included is the western theatre of the American Civil War between the Union and Confederates. The author presents these tragedies in excellent detail. He has a tremendous skill for not getting lost in detail nor being overly superficial. For two weeks or so, I would go to bed at night after reading a chapter or two and would mumble the same thing: "Oh my goodness I can't believe what happened there . . .".

Great historical story of the real West. The story of Kit Carson was particularly fascinating. I would highly recommend this book.

While, as of this writing, I have not completed reading this very informative and interesting book, I plan on its completion this coming week (bad weather had changed my original plan of reading time). I will comment further upon completion. At this point, I'd have to give the book a "4" ... but I expect it will end up being a rating of " 5 " at the conclusion. Recommend this book.

A very informative book about an amazing person. Gives a lot of information about the American southwest during the formative years. Almost too much info. Good for history buffs and anybody that’s curious about how it all happened.

Well told story. Very sad though. Hampton is a great author. This is my second book by him and this is very easy to consume, I learned a good deal.

There are no cliffhangers , but I still could not put this book down. Kit Carson is unbelievable and is involved with almost all significant historical events in the Southwest--not as witness, but as key factor . Be prepared to learn some insights into native Amrican psyche and culture as well--especially Navajo culture.

I began reading the book expecting a biography of Kit Carson. However, the book was much more. The book was as much about the Navajo nation and its tragic confrontation with American exceptionalism and embrace of manifest destiny. I grew up in Colorado and have been recently exploring my ancestral ties to the native Americans, Mexicans, and Spanish of New Mexico. I found the book engrossing to read and gave me new insights into my ancestral heritage.

This took me a while to read, as it is long and tedious at times. Overall, it was good and informative. I learned a lot, but it was sometimes difficult to continue reading. I ended up reading other books between the chapters of this one.